


Survival of the Fittest

by sassiestassbuttever



Category: Outlast (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 02:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15675990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassiestassbuttever/pseuds/sassiestassbuttever
Summary: Sam Kaide never meant to kill anyone. At least, that's what the mysterious Murkoff Corp convinced the court. At first she wasn't sure what they wanted her for, but after the transfer to their UK facility it became all too clear. Now she had been transferred yet again, but this time it's to the infamous Mount Massive Asylum. Being the only woman in a place full of insane men isn't easy; and it certainly isn't easy when they all manage to get out. Suddenly it becomes a game of survival, and Sam doesn't intend to lose.





	1. Chapter 1

_ “Fae, is something going on at home? You’ve seemed kinda off.”  _

_ “I’m fine, everything’s fine.” _

_ “You’re a shite liar. But if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” _

* * *

 

A young woman sat in a cell, her fire red hair tied back in a ponytail. Her elbows rested on her knees and she rubbed her hands together anxiously. The sound of the door opening made her look up as her lawyer stepped inside. 

“What did they say?” She asked, sitting up straight as she spoke.

Sighing, the man sat down next to his client on the small bed. “Well, at first they were going to give a life sentence with a chance of probation. But then these guys from some mental asylum showed up and offered to take you instead. Apparently it’s an institution for the criminally insane.”

“So I’m going there instead?” She asked. “I thought the court said I was sane enough for prison.”

“The other guys presented evidence from a professional saying that you are unstable at best. My guess is it’s because you don’t remember anything that you did; so they can play it off as some mental illness or something.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“No, it doesn’t. There’s something else going on here, I just don’t know what it is.” He told her, standing up and straightening his tie. “But the judge made up her mind, so it looks like you’re going wherever Murkoff is taking you.”

* * *

 

The building looming over her reminded her of the old castles back home in Scotland. Only the castles always excited her and this place...this place scared her. From what she had managed to learn Murkoff was a company that mostly worked with biometric security, but had multiple mental institutions across Europe. 

“Sam Kaide?” A man asked, his uniform showing he was part of security. “I’m here to take you to the front desk.”

Simply nodding, she followed him into the building. Once inside a female nurse took her to her room and told her where all the important places in the facility were.

“If ya need anythin’ else, just ask.” She said with a smile before leaving Sam settle in.

Sitting down on the bed Sam sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

_ Guess this is better than prison. Let’s just hope those accusations against Murkoff I saw aren’t true. _ She thought.

* * *

 

Empty space. That’s all that Sam could really feel. Her gut feeling about Murkoff and what they wanted had ended up being right. They were using their different facilities to perform human experiments on the inmates and patients. She had hoped that they would pass her over, but it seemed they had wanted her for a reason. 

Now she was once again suspended in a vat of some sort with three large needles piercing her shoulders and the base of her neck. She didn’t know what exactly Murkoff was doing or what their end goal was. What she did know was that it hurt like hell and the constant static was rather annoying.

Sam sat on her bed as she used a small towel to dry her hair. A sharp pain pulsated from her shoulders and neck, and the side of her head felt like it was being stabbed. She jumped a little when a knock sounded from her door. Grabbing the small blanket on the foot of her bed, she quickly covered up her chest before walking over to open the door. 

“Hi there Sam. I heard they put you through tha Engine again, so I thought I’d bring ya some pain medication.” The nurse, whose name Sam learned was Hailey, said. “Mind if I come in?”

“No, not at all.” Sam said, moving aside to let the other woman in.

After closing the door, Sam slowly moved back to her bed and sat down. Hailey handed her a glass of water a three pills before sitting next to her. Grimacing at the pain, Sam swallowed the pills.

“I swiped the higher grade stuff from the medical wing for ya. I figure something like this would hurt like a bitch.” Hailey said, giving a small smile.

“Won’t ya get in trouble for that?” Sam asked, worried for the one friend she had in this place. “I wouldn’t want anythin happenin to ya because of me.”

“With everythin that Murkoff is up ta, I doubt they’ll notice this.”

“Well, thank you. You’re the only person here that’s actually nice to me because they want to be.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Most of the people here know what I did. Most of my case is public record. Some of them pretend to be nice to me out of either pity or fear.”

“My mum always said that if you only ever judge a person by their mistakes, than you’re never going to actually know that person. Plenty of the patients here have done some bad things, but that doesn’t make them bad people.”

Sam smiled and leaned into her friend a little bit.Hailey went to put a hand on Sam’s shoulder, but quickly thought better of it. Looking at the large scars being formed she couldn’t help but internally wince. She didn’t what exactly the Engine was, but if this is what it did to people then no good could come of it.

“I better get back to work, they’ll notice if I’m gone for to long.” Hailey announced, slowly starting to stand up.

“Thanks for comin and checking on me.” Sam told her. “And for the pain meds.”

“Anytime.”  Hailey said as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Sam let out a deep sigh before turning to lay on her stomach. It may have been three in the afternoon, but she was ready to sleep for days. As she closed her eyes, the faint sound of static began in the back of her head.

_ Great. Looks like I won’t be getting as much sleep as I thought. _


	2. Chapter 2

_ “Fae, what happened to your face? And your arms.” _

_ “Nothing. You know me, always the clumsy one.” _

_ “You’re hiding something from me, and it has me worried. We’ve always told each other everything.” _

_ “It’s...it’s a long story. And I don’t know if I can tell it.” _

* * *

 

The sun was out for once and Sam was sitting on a bench in the concrete yard. She had figured out what Murkoff wanted out of her; over the past three years the static in her head had become words. One of the doctors had told her that a swarm of specialized nanites had been integrated into her body on a cellular level. They were designed to turn her into a living weapon for Murkoff to use how they pleased. 

Not long after, they had brought in someone to train her in several different types of self defense that she could also use to kill. The Swarm, that she had decided to name Ozzie, made it so she was stronger and faster than most. Over the past two and a half years she had learned all the ins and outs of mercenary and assassin work, and hoped she would never have to use it. 

“Kaide! Someone’s here to see ya!” A guard yelled from the doorway closest to her.

Sighing, Sam stood up and walked across the yard. She knew that the others were staring at the scars her tank top showed, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She followed the guard up a few flights of stairs before he stopped at door and opened it for her. Walking in, she saw it was one of the offices that the higher ups used whenever they decided to visit.  

Sitting in the chair behind the large desk was a man that Sam hadn’t seen before. His black hair was slicked back and he wore a clearly expensive suit. Something about the way he carried himself, and the way he looked at her, set Sam on edge. 

“Sam Kaide. Good to finally meet you. My name is Jeremy Blaire, please have a seat.” He introduced himself, motioning to a chair in front of the desk.

Staying silent she sat down and crossed her legs, studying the man in front of her.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m doing here.” He said, leaning back in his chair.

“I certainly haven’t seen you here before.” She told him. “And I know everyone here.”

“I normally don’t come to our Europe locations, but when I heard about you I had to come see for myself. From what I’ve heard, you have progressed through the Walrider program faster than anyone thought you would.”

“The shrink said it’s because I was already mentally unstable, but I don’t really believe him.”

“Well, whatever reason it is, we at Murkoff are very pleased with the results.” Blaire told her, standing up and walking around the desk.

“So why are ya here, anyway?” She asked, becoming more alert as he leaned on the desk in front of her. “I doubt someone like you just stops in for casual visits.”

“What exactly does someone like me do, than?”

“You obviously make enough money to afford a high end tailored suit, so I would say you’re pretty high up on the ladder. You probably run a few of the U.S. locations, going off of your accent. I’d say you spend your time ruining people’s lives and then attending corporate cocktail parties.”

Blaire remained silent for a few moments before smirking. “You seem like you have me all figured out. Do you do that to everyone?”

“Do you always avoid your reason for being somewhere this much?”

“Straight to business, I like that. I’m here because I have a proposition for you. One of our U.S. locations is in need of some…...extra help. Given the progress you’ve made here, not to mention what you did to end up here, I’d say you’re just what we need.”

“So you want to send me overseas to see what I can do.”

“Something like that.” He said, leaning towards her. “Think you’re up to the task?”

“Something tells me I don’t have a choice.” She answered, staring him down.

“You’re right, you don’t.” He agreed, standing up and walking over to the door.

Sam took it as her queue and followed him.

“You’re flight leaves tomorrow morning. I’ll be personally escorting you there.” He informed her. “Well, me and four armed guards.”

“Didn’t know you cared that much.” Sam said, laying the sarcasm on as much as she could.

Before he could respond, Sam walked out of the office and went back to her floor to find Hailey.


	3. Chapter 3

_ “You’re really starting to worry me, Fae. I know something’s going on, but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”  _

 

_ “If I tell you, you’re gonna freak out and do something stupid.”  _

 

_ “Tell me anyways.”  _

 

* * *

 

“So they’re shipping you off, huh?” Hailey asked, watching as Sam packed what little she had.

“Looks that way. I mean, it’s not exactly like I have a choice. Murkoff made sure that the only way I exist is in memories. According to the rest of the world I’m dead.” She explained.

“Well, here’s my cell phone number. Just in case you find a way to get to a phone.” The nurse said, handing Sam a piece of paper.

Sam took the paper and put it in her pocket. “Wanna walk to the door with me?”

Hailey smiled in response and looped her arm with Sam’s as they walked to the lobby. Waiting at the large doors was an all black car, the back window rolled down to reveal Jeremy Blaire.

“I still find it weird he wanted to accompany you himself.” Hailey whispered.

“Trust me, I do too.” Sam agreed. “But we both know he won’t be able to do anything I don’t like.”

“This is true.” She said, turning to give her friend a hug. “Be safe out there. A few nurses said that Mount Massive is worse than here.”

Sam gave her a squeeze before letting her go and walking towards the car. A man stepped out from the driver’s side and opened her door for her. 

“Kaide.” Blaire greeted as Sam slipped into the seat in front of him.

Sam huffed in response and looked out the window. She had no intention of talking to him more than necessary.

“Not in a very talkative mood, are we?” He said. “Doesn’t matter, it will just make debriefing you all the easier. As you know Mount Massive is an asylum for the criminally insane, much like the one you’ve spent the last few years at. We’ve been trying the Morphogenic Engine over there with little to no success. In fact, all it’s been doing is making the patients more violent than they already are.”

“I’m assuming that’s where I come in.” Sam interjected, not taking her eyes away from the window.

“Correct. We already have a large security team there, but we’re hoping someone with your….talents will be able to help them out. We’ve already had more accidents than we want.” He explained, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees.

“So you want me to go in there and wrangle a bunch of homicidal psychopaths.” She summarized.

“Essentially, yes. There will be more to it, but that will be your main job.” He said.

Sam watched as the trees and bushes became tall buildings and bustling sidewalks. Part of her was a little excited for the change in scenery, but the rest of her had a bad feeling about what was to come.

“Sounds easy enough to me.”

 

* * *

 

After a long flight and what felt like an even longer drive, they had finally arrived at Mount Massive Asylum. Blaire had tried to get some personal information out of her on the way over, but she had stonewalled him every time. She wasn’t the sharing type anyways, but she especially didn’t want him knowing anything else.

The building was smaller than the other asylum, but Sam felt a certain air around it that unnerved her. The lobby was fairly open, with a large reception desk in the middle of room and two office rooms off to either side.  Blaire ushered her forward by placing his hand on the small of her back as he walked.  Sam wanted nothing more than to break his arm, but she allowed herself to be lead to an elevator that took them down to a sub level of the building. As the doors slid open, she had to refrain from squinting at the sudden amount of light. The sub level had a very different feel to it than what else she had seen. The ceiling, floor, and walls were pure white, making the fluorescent lights seem brighter than they were. 

“I’m guessing this is where all the Engine stuff happens.” Sam said as Blaire led her down a series of hallways.

“It is. We would prefer it if you spent most of your time down here; but the staff and security have permission to call you up to the asylum if needed.” He explained.

The two of them approached a large metal sliding door, and Blaire nodded to the security guard to let them in. The door opened quietly to reveal a computer room with a large observation window on one side. Sam couldn’t help but flinch a small bit when she looked at the Engine on the other side. The machine was huge and had six glass spheres around it.

“The glass things are new.” She stated, walking closer to the window.

“We’re trying a new way of integration.” Blaire told her. “Andrews here can explain it a little better. He’s also who you’ll be working with the most down here.”

Sam looked at the man Blaire gestured to and immediately wanted to kill him. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but something about him rubbed her the wrong way. Pushing the feeling down she met his extended arm to shake his hand.

“Sam Kaide.” She introduced herself, squeezing his hand a little tighter than she needed to. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

“I hope we do.” He said, giving her a quick once over before turning to the computer in front of him.

“Well, with that out of the way, why don’t we take a look at the rest of the asylum.” Blaire suggested.

Sam nodded and followed him back to the elevator. They stopped on the way so Blaire could show her where she’d be staying before moving on. As they walked through the asylum, Sam noticed that most of the patients were restrained in some way. She couldn’t help but notice that a few of them didn’t look like they belonged in an asylum for the criminally insane.

“Does Murkoff have other asylums in the area?” She asked as they entered the vocational block.

“We have three that are close to here, and a dozen or so across the country.” Blaire answered. “Why are you asking?”

“Not all of these patients look like they would kill someone. I figured you had other places that you brought them over from.” She told him, peeking into the sewing room through the door.

The room was a decent size and had tables with sewing machines lined up in two rows. A few patients were using them, but one in particular stood out to her.

“Who’s that?” She asked, pointing the man in question.

“I’m not sure. I know he’s been here for a while.” He replied.

Sam heard someone coming down the hall and looked up to see a patient coming towards them. He seemed harmless enough, so Sam stopped him once he got close enough.

“Hey, who’s the guy in the corner?” She questioned.

“Oh, that’s Gluskin. Real nasty piece of work, that one. He’s got quite the temper, but sewing calms him down. You wouldn’t know it by lookin at him though.” The patient told her. “I’d stay away from him if I was you. He’s got a thing for the pretty ladies.”

Sam huffed and let him go before turning back to the sewing room.

“Gonna have ta keep an eye on that one.” She muttered. “So, am I ever gonna be able to change outta this jumpsuit or am I stuck in it?”

“You’ll find that your room has everything you’ll need. We talked to that nurse you were close with about the things you would want.” Blaire told her, leading her back to the elevator.

“Didn’t think you cared that much, Jer.” Sam said.

“I don’t. But knowing you I figured it would be easier to not give you something to complain about.” He said as they stepped into the elevator once more. 

“Fair enough.”

The walk back to Sam’s room was silent, which gave her time to study the people around her. Most of them were technicians or doctors, nothing she would have to worry about. There were plenty of security guards, but she could easily get past them if she needed to. Once they got to her room Blaire handed her a cell phone.

“This is for when the people upstairs need you. They push a button and this will give you a notification of where you need to be.” He told her. “And yes, you’ll be able to call your friend with it. You’re the last person I want getting bored down here. But she’ll be the only person you’ll be able to contact, and it’s all this phone will be able to do.”

Sam took the phone and slid it into her pocket.

“Only call Hailey, got it.” She confirmed.

“If you have any questions, Andrews will most likely be able to answer them. If not, I’m sure you’ll find someone that can.” Blaire said before starting to walk away. “Oh, and Andrews will be sending me weekly reports on you. He’s always very thorough and honest with those.”

“I guess I won’t be able to kill him right away, then.” Sam joked, opening the door to her room.

“Not unless you want to take over his job.” Blaire called over his shoulder.

Sam waited for him to be out of sight before entering her room and closing the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

_ “Sam? Sam talk to me. Look, I know that it’s a lot ta take in but please say something.”  _

 

_ “Fae….I don’t know what to say. I’m glad you chose to tell me, though.”  _

 

_ “Just don’t do anything we’ll both regret.”  _

 

_ “I can’t make any promises on that.” _

* * *

 

Sitting in one of the office chairs, Sam stared at the machine on the other side of the glass. Their way of attaching the patients to the machine was different, but the end goal was still the same. Murkoff was trying to make another weapon, someone else like her. Suddenly the door behind her opened and the lights were turned on. Swiveling in her chair, Sam saw a man that looked slightly out of place walk into the room. He didn’t seem to notice that she was there, so she cleared her throat to get his attention.   Jumping at the sudden noise he looked up from the laptop he was carrying. 

“Oh, s-sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be in here this late at night.” He said, shuffling his feet a small bit.

“It’s fine. I’m the one that was sittin in here with the lights off.” She told him. “I’m Sam, by the way.”

“I’m Waylon. I’m one of the software technicians for the Engine.”

“Nice ta meet you Waylon. I’m the new addition to the security team down here.”

Waylon gave Sam a quizzical look as he sat down in the chair next to her.

“I know, I know. I don’t look like someone they would hire to deal with homicidal psychos.” She said, laughing a bit as she spoke. “Well, they didn’t actually hire me so I guess there’s that.”

“What do you mean?”

“They brought me in from one of their UK locations. I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything else, though. Just think of it as they’re fighting fire with a different kind of fire.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Luckily, it doesn’t have to. So, what are you doing here at three in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep so I figured I would make sure everything was running smoothly. What about you?”

“Somethin similar.”

Waylon hummed in response as he turned to the computers in front of him. Sam remained next to him while he worked, occasionally asking him questions. She learned that he had a wife and two boys that currently lived in Boulder. He was definitely qualified to be working on the Engine given his academic background. Within the first two minuets Sam could tell that Waylon had no idea what Murkoff’s real end goal was. As far as he knew, they were using the Engine to try and understand the patients’ minds.

“So how did you get this job?” She asked, turning to face him.

“Murkoff actually came to me. I was a little skeptical at first, but the pay was too good to pass up. You learn to take those kind of opportunities when you have two kids to take care of.” He answered. “Do you have a family back in the UK?”

“No. The only person that knows I’m here is the nurse I made friends with. My actual family doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

A few moments of silence passed before Waylon spoke up.

“Hey, I basically have a mini apartment down here. If you don’t want to eat your meals in the cafeteria, you could come over. I don’t mean anything bad by it, I just figured that it would probably be awkward being the only woman here.”

Sam couldn’t help but chuckle at Waylon’s attempt to not be awkward.

“I think I’ll take you up on that. I don’t need to know everyone here to do my job, but it would be nice to have a friend. One that isn’t thousands of miles away, at least.” She said, standing up and waiting for Waylon to do the same.

“Sounds like a plan. You want to start with lunch tomorrow?” He asked as they walked out of the Engine room.

“Works for me. Just let me know when.” She replied.

* * *

 

“Wait, wait. You’re tellin’ me that two men in suits showed up at your house, offered you a job and didn’t tell you much about it, and then you accepted it? Even after they said you have to move to Colorado?” Sam asked, sitting across from Waylon at the small table. It had been two weeks since they started their regular lunches, and she was already starting to feel comfortable around him.

“You should have seen them, they were huge and intimidating! I felt like they would have made me disappear if I said no.” Waylon defended. “Those guys could’ve scared anyone into doing whatever they wanted.”

“Give me five minutes with ‘em and they’ll be running with their tails between their legs.” Sam said with a small smile.

“You’re Scottish, it doesn’t count.” He joked, standing up and taking their plates from the table.

Sam was about to say something in defense, but a buzzing sound interrupted her. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she saw that it was a security notification.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our time a little short, Way. They need me up on the third floor.” She explained as she stood up.

“Hopefully it’s not anything too serious.” Waylon said, a concerned look coming over his face.

“It never really is. The last four times have been something they could’ve handled themselves.” She told him while they walked out the door. “Doubt this one will be anything different.”

Waving goodbye to Waylon, Sam made her way to the elevator and up to the third floor.

* * *

 

Following the shouting coming from down the hall she quickly found the two guards that had called her up.

“What’s going on here?” She asked. “And why did you lock him in this room?”

“We didn’t do that, ma’am. Gluskin was getting a little out of control, but before we could restrain him he nabbed another patient and locked himself in there.” One of the guards explained.

“What do you mean ‘getting out of control’?” She questioned, trying to look through the glass in the door.

“We were walking him to the vocational block when he started getting antsy. We chalked it up to the usual stuff that patients do around here and kept going. But then he slammed Jeffords into the wall, grabbed a guy walking past him, and went in there.” He answered. “We’ve been trying to get him outta there for the last five minutes. When nothing was working we figured we’d call you up.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Sam narrowed her gaze as she turned to face the guard. He was a few inches taller than her, but her glare caused him to shrink back a bit.

“Are you saying that you called me up here to serve as a distraction?” She asked, maintaining eye contact the whole time.

“Not necessarily, Miss Kaide. We just meant that you can probably get close enough to him to restrain him.” The guard behind her explained, trying to save his partner.

Sam hummed before turning away from the guard and faced the door again.

“Do either have some handcuffs I can use? I don’t exactly carry that kind of stuff with me.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

The guard to her left quickly handed her a pair before they both backed away a small bit.  Putting the cuffs in the back pocket of her jeans, Sam took a deep breath before kicking down the door. Standing in the middle of the room was her biggest problem in the asylum. Even slouched, Gluskin still stood at least a foot taller than her and most of his body was muscle. In front of him he held another patient with a shiv against his throat. Sam wanted to get things done quickly, but she knew that she needed to handle the situation carefully.

“Hey there, Gluskin. I don’t believe we’ve met yet. My name is Sam Kaide.” She said, taking a few steps into the room. “I work with the security team around here.”

“Stay right there or I’ll slit his throat.” The larger man demanded.

“Alright, no need to get violent.” Sam said as she raised her hands and stopped moving. “I’m just here to talk.”

“Yeah right. Every time one of those whores comes to ‘just talk’ I end up in solitary for a week!”

“If you cooperate then maybe that won’t happen this time. Now why don’t we start with why we’re in this situation in the first place.”

“I’m tired of those two always following me every time I want to go somewhere.”

“Well, you do have a tendency to act out like this. They’re only doing it because the higher ups told them to. They don’t exactly have a choice.” She explained, slowly starting to take small steps forward. “And the more you do stuff like this, the more they have to follow you.”

Gluskin remained silent, seemingly thinking over her words. Sam took the opportunity to get closer to the two patients. She was now within two feet of them, but made sure to keep her calm demeanor.

“I said to stay where you were!” Gluskin suddenly yelled, noticing how close she had gotten.

“Look, if you just work with me on this the consequences won’t be as severe. The more difficult you make this, the longer it takes, and the worse the punishment will be.” She told him.

“Why the fuck should I listen to you?”

“Because if you don’t, the guards outside the door will have no choice but to shoot you. Wouldn’t want that, now would we?” 

Once Gluskin glanced over at the two guards, Sam moved quickly. Moving forward, she grabbed the arm Gluskin had wrapped around the other patient, shoved the other man away, and elbowed Gluskin in the stomach. The larger man doubled over from the impact as Sam twisted his arm behind his back, causing him to drop the shiv. The two guards outside the door came in as Sam was putting on the handcuffs.

“Thanks for the help, you two.” She said sarcastically, handing Gluskin over to them.

Not wanting to stay any longer than she had too, Sam left the room and headed back towards the elevator. She could feel the anger rising up in her, and it seemed those around her could tell that she wasn’t in a good mood. Everyone quickly got out of her way as she stalked through the halls and into the main elevator.

_ ‘Stupid fucking idiots, thinking they could use me for bait. Who the fuck do they think I am?’  _

 


	5. Chapter 5

_ “Sam what did you do to them?”  _

 

_ “I...I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.” _

 

_ “I’m going to call the police. They can handle this.”  _

 

* * *

 

Sam was sitting on a bench reading a book when she heard someone walk up to her. Looking up from her book she saw that was someone from the front desk. 

“Excuse me, Miss Kaide. There’s someone here asking a lot of questions, and Mr. Blaire said to get you if this ever happened.” They explained nervously.

“Alright. Lead the way.” Sam said, giving them a small smile.

They turned around and lead Sam to the lobby. Leaning against the front desk was someone Sam had never seen before. He was wearing a brown leather jacket with a button up and t-shirt underneath. His jeans and boots looked like they had seen quite a bit. Sam instantly took him for someone who traveled a lot and wasn’t afraid to put in a bit of elbow grease when needed. His dark brown hair was tied back in a small ponytail at the nape of his neck and he was currently drumming his fingers against the desk.

“Hi there. My name is Sam Kaide.” She said as she walked up to him. “I’m the person to talk to if you have any questions.”

“Miles Upshur, investigative journalist.” He said, shaking her hand. “I’m the person with the questions.”

“Well, let’s hope I can answer at least a few of them.”

Motioning for Miles to follow, she lead him across the lobby to one of the empty offices. Taking a seat being the desk, she waited for Miles to take the seat across from her.

“So, Mr. Upshur, what questions do you have?” She began, leaning back in the chair.

“Does the Murkoff Corporation have any locations overseas?”

“You just dove right in there. I like that. We have a few locations in Europe, but that’s it.”

“I prefer to cut to the chase during something like this. Are there any like Mount Massive?”

“No, they’re all smaller businesses. We really just have them there se we can keep our foot in the door, so to speak.”

“Why exactly does a multi billion dollar security company need to start a mental institution? Seems a little out of place, doesn’t it?”

“I honestly don’t really know. As I’m sure you can tell by the accent, I was pulled from one of our overseas locations. They needed a little extra...security. So I was brought in to help.”

“I’m going to guess that they’ve only told you what you need to know.”

“Something like that. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?”

“There are rumors that Murkoff has been paying families to give up certain family members. Is that true?”

Sam sat back in her chair as she thought over the question. She wasn’t sure if the rumors were true, but if they were it would certainly explain some of the patients she had seen.

“Unfortunately, that’s another one I can’t answer.” She told him.

Miles was about to say something when the door was opened by a security guard.

“Sorry to interrupt, but they need you downstairs Ms. Kaide.” He said.

Sighing, Sam stood up as Miles did the same. The two walked out of the office with the security guard right behind them.

“Sorry to have to cut things short, Mr. Upshur.” She said. “Perhaps we can finish things another time.”

“If Murkoff hasn’t had me killed before then.” The reporter joked. “Thank you, for answering what you could.”

Sam gave him a small smile before walking to the elevator. As the doors started closing in front of her, she watched as Miles walked out of the building.

_ “He’s going to get himself in a lot of trouble if he isn’t careful.”  _

 

* * *

 

Sitting at the small dining table, Sam couldn’t help but notice that Waylon seemed twitchier than usual. 

“Hey Way, is something going on? You seem nervous.” She questioned, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table. “I know we’ve only known each other for a couple weeks, but you can talk to me.”

“Hm? Oh, nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.” He answered, not making any eye contact. “Just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” 

“You know that you’re a shitty liar, right?” 

Waylon looked around the room for a moment before deciding to answer.

“You can’t tell anyone. Especially Blaire.”

“I won’t.”

“Okay. I’ve decided that I’m gonna tell someone about what they’re doing to people down here. I’ve already got a few journalists and reporters that I’m going to send an email to.”

Sam sat back in her chair and studied Waylon before saying anything.

“This is absolutely crazy. You’d have to go all the way down to Leadville just to get outside of Murkoff’s server range. And doing that would just make it even more obvious that it was you.”

“I know, and I’ve got a plan for that. It’s not the best, but it’ll at least give me enough time to get outta here before they realize it was me.”

“There’s a good possibility that they’ll figure it out before then. Who knows what they’ll do to you if they catch you.”

“It’s a risk I’ve gotta take. Sam, I can’t just sit back and let them torture these people. Especially when I know there’s something I can at least try to do.”

“I admire your need to help people, I really do. There aren’t a lot of people like you left. But you have to think about your family, Way. If this plan of yours work, and you manage to get out before they know, they’ll just go after them. And if your plan fails, then your wife and kids are never going to know what actually happened to you. Are you really willing to risk everything to expose something that Murkoff will most likely just cover up?”

Waylon slumped back in his chair as Sam spoke, thinking about what she was telling him.

“Lisa would do it. If she were in my position, she would do it.”

Sighing, Sam stood up as both their names were called over the PA.

“Then I’ll be there when you need my help.” She said as they walked out the door.

“Isn’t it supposed to be ‘if I need your help’?” He asked.

“Let’s be honest here, Way. You’re gonna need me eventually.”


End file.
